Update on Amendments to Firearms Law

FOR DISTRIBUTION TO ALL POLICE OFFICERS

Special Bulletin for Police No. 57

Snapshot

• The coming into force of certain Firearms Act regulations, including some sections of the Public Agents Firearms Regulations, has been deferred.
• The amnesty for prohibited 12(6) handguns has been extended until December 31, 2005.

Deferral of Regulations

This bulletin is to inform you that the coming into force of sections 8 to 10 and 12 to 16 of the Public Agents Firearms Regulations has been deferred from January 1, 2004, to January 1, 2005. These sections deal with reporting requirements for firearms in public agencies' inventories. All other sections of the Public Agents Firearms Regulations came into effect on December 1, 1998.

Please make sure that information about the deferral gets passed on to the person in your agency who is responsible for managing the agency's firearm inventory if it is someone other than yourself.

Deferring the regulations allows more time to complete some regulatory amendments aimed at streamlining procedures, improving the delivery of services, and easing the administrative burden for police and other public agencies.

As reported in the Special Bulletin for Police - No. 56, proposed amendments to a number of the Firearms Act Regulations were tabled in June 2003. Starting in the fall, the Government began consulting with key stakeholders across Canada, including police. Deferring the regulations will allow more time to review the feedback, to complete the regulatory drafting process and to obtain the necessary approval to make the amendments.

Deferring the regulations also gives busy police forces and other public agencies more time to go through their inventory of protected firearms and to destroy those that need to be destroyed in order to minimize the reporting requirements.

In the meantime, please make sure that your agency has a Public Agency Identification Number (PAIN) if it does not yet have one. Your agency may need more than one PAIN if it has several branches that possess firearms. For more information, please call the police hotline at 1 800 731-4000, ext. 2064.

Other regulations that have been deferred include the Gun Show Regulations, Authorization to Export or Import Firearms Regulations (Businesses), and sections 4, 5, and 7 to 14 of the Importation and Exportation of Firearms Regulations (Individuals).

The Gun Show Regulations are now scheduled to come into effect on January 1, 2005. The regulations pertaining to the import and export of firearms will come into force at the same time as the related provisions in the Firearms Act, as amended by Bill C-10A. A date has not yet been set.

The amnesty has been extended until December 31, 2005, for individuals who acquired and registered a prohibited 12(6) handgun between February 14, 1995, and December 1, 1998, and for businesses with an inventory of 12(6) handguns that had been reported to the Commissioner of the RCMP on December 1, 1998.

During the period of the amnesty, affected individuals and businesses can lawfully possess those 12(6) handguns even if they do not have a valid licence or registration certificate issued under the Firearms Act.

The extension of the amnesty allows affected owners to retain possession of their 12(6) handguns, pending the completion of proposed regulatory changes aimed at allowing businesses to sell their 12(6) handguns at retail to properly licensed individuals. The extension also allows affected owners more time to dispose of firearms they cannot lawfully keep.

Information for the Police

In order to ensure that you are on our mailing list, or that your contact information is current, please refer to the process in Special Bulletins for Police Nos. 25 and 34.

Any police officer can use the CAFC Police-Only Information and Referral Line at 1 800 731-4000, ext. 2064 (E) or 2063 (F) (toll-free) to obtain information or to obtain publications that are available.

Police Web site Portal: www.cfc-cafc.gc.ca/en/portals/default.asp
Police e-mail: police-info@cfc-cafc.gc.ca

Members of the public must not be referred to the Police-Only Line but can be referred to the public lines at 1 800 731-4000 (toll-free)

Public e-mail: cfc-cafc@cfc-cafc.gc.ca

This bulletin is intended to provide general information only, and may be copied and distributed within the police community. For legal references, please refer to the Firearms Act and the Firearms Act Regulations. Copies of the Act and Regulations and training material, such as handbooks and videos, were mailed to all police locations in 1998 and 1999. Copies of training materials are available on the CAFC Web site. Contact your chief firearms officer to see if provincial, territorial and municipal laws, regulations and policies also apply.